CLCS 380 - Migration, Displacement, and Human Rights

Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)

In this intensive research seminar, students expand on the ongoing work of the student-driven Selective Bibliography of Forced Migration project by assembling annotated collections of age-appropriate multimedia resources to teach students about forced migration and human rights. Depending on students’ interest and disciplinary expertise, they may choose to prepare resources for any of the following middle/high school areas of study: History/Social Studies, Sciences, Language Arts, Modern Languages, Math, Arts.

Students work with the instructor and the Consortium on Forced Migration’s Coordinator of Research and Pedagogy to collect, archive, and annotate historical and contemporary literature and other resources for children and youth related to migration and displacement to be included in the Teaching Tool section of the digital platform. Class meetings are devoted to progress updates from student research teams, discussions of theoretical readings to frame the issues at hand, and guest lectures from experts in human rights and critical refugee and displacement studies pedagogy (at Vassar and other institutions).

The students’ work is featured on the Selective Bibliography of Forced Migration’s project website, the Consortium on Forced Migration’s Digital Classroom site, and the “On
Campus” section of the digital journal EuropeNow. The work builds toward expanding and implementing migration and displacement pedagogy modules in classrooms at partner middle and high schools.

Graded, and by special permission. Interested students will have to apply with a one-page statement of purpose. Maria Höhn.

One 2-hour period and individual conferences with the instructor.

Course Format: INT